Sunbeams of Serendipity
by Another Artist
Summary: Meeting him was the best thing that ever happened to her. He was her ray of sunlight in her stormy world, and oh how she missed him. / Partner fic to "A Loving Lie". For Cecelia S. Bradley and her prompt.


**Sunbeams of Serendipity**

"It's raining." Her voice carries over to the other man, who only nods mutely in acknowledgement. She presses her palms onto the cool window, watching the fog form around her fingers. Smiling slightly, she breathes onto the window and drew a sun. The man walks over and presses his palm against hers, and together, they continue drawing hearts.

: :

_"Rainstorms bring rainbows - everybody knows it's true, but there aren't any rainbows around here, and Heaven knows how many storms I've had," she mused aloud on a gray afternoon. The rain had finally ended, and the sun was barely visible in the distance. She felt his presence beside her as he sat on the bench across from her, looking at her thoughtfully.  
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_"I'll be your rainbow, if you'd like. I'll be here after the storm. Just remember that, okay?" he finally said, smiling a little hopefully. She couldn't help but smile in return as he reached from across and took her hand, his warmth rescuing her from the coldness in her heart that was finally starting to melt.  
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_"... okay." It sounded like a promise._

: :

"How many days has it been?" she asks no one in particular, allowing her voice to fade in the room but echo in her mind. Sitting up on the bed, she looks over at the picture on top of her nightstand. She reaches over and touches it, tracing the cool metal with her warm fingers. She sits there, staring at the picture frame for a moment, before standing up and leaving.

: :

_"What are you doing?" she asked incredulously, trying to ignore the man kneeling in front of her with balloons and flowers in one hand, and a jewelry box in the other. She noticed others watching and cursed at him under her breath._

_"Sure, but that's beside the point," he answered happily, smiling at her so crazily and stupidly, she almost pushed him for it. "Happy fiftieth day anniversary!" he exclaimed once more, and then she kicked him backwards, causing him to fall on his behind. _

_Still, she couldn't help smiling as she helped him up and took the jewelry, not forgetting to kiss him on the cheeks in a way of saying thank you.  
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: :

"I like this song," she murmurs, a soft smile lingering on her lips. She turns to glance at him, and before she knows it, he has grabbed her hand and whisks her off. They're swaying to the music, her skirt flowing as they moved. His touch is soft and it's almost not there - almost. But she doesn't need to feel it on her skin - she feels it in her heart.

: :

_"I don't dance, Dan," she deadpanned, staring at him and the hundreds of other people in the room, dancing to the beat that was - dare she say - infectious. She made a move for the door, but he grabbed her wrist and held her there. She hated how his simple touch made her heart beat ten times faster and the butterflies return to her stomach._

_"And I don't take no for an answer," he replied cheekily. She almost pointed out how she said no to him the first time he asked her out, but once she saw that hopeful glint in his eyes, she sighed and admitted - only mentally - that she couldn't deny him now._

_She ignored the giddy feeling in her as he took her hand and led her across the dance floor.  
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: :

"Do you think he's going somewhere?" she asks thoughtfully, pointing towards the man waiting outside of his house, searching for something. Perhaps his keys, since he is standing outside of his car, hurriedly patting his pockets in search of them. She thinks about she would like to go somewhere, but she doesn't say anything about it. But she knows he knows, and she can feel him leave the room after that.

: :

_"__What is that?" she asked, frowning slightly at the sight in front of her. It was a beat-up van straight out of an old movie, and she unwillingly fell in love with it at first sight. It reminded her of home, a place she missed a lot, but not as much lately. _

_"A van!" he exclaimed, pointing out the obvious. "We're going on a road trip!" She blinked in surprise, but then again, everything he did was a surprise to her. She listened as he spoke avidly about how much fun they would have and all the exciting adventures they'd have, and she only managed a smile._

_Surprisingly, even when the car broke down in the middle of a road at one in the morning, she didn't have anything to say. She only told him it was okay, and for once, she felt like it truly was.  
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: :

"Another storm is passing through," she thinks aloud. The clouds are there, looming over the town, covering it in gray and gloom. The rain hasn't begun to fall quite yet, but she knows it's coming. She is sick of all of the rain and clouds - she just wants clear skies and sunshine. But she keeps telling herself that after the storm passes, a rainbow will come out. It's only a matter of time.

: :

_"I thought the storms were done with," she scoffed, her voice muffled by the scarf worn tightly around her neck. She feels his hands through her gloves, and he tossed her his classic smile as they walked to class._

_"They're almost gone," he assured her, and she rolled her eyes. She knew he knew that wasn't true - there were at least two more coming, announced the latest weather report. But he only nodded once more, and she didn't bother correcting him again._

_She only hoped he was right this time.  
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: :

"They say rainstorms bring rainbows, but you already know that," she suddenly tells him one day. She feels he is there - she _knows_ he is there. Silent tears streak her face as she whispers she will never forget him, she will never leave him. His eyes, crinkling around the side as he manages a smile, say that he knows.

: :

_"__Skittles?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. He nodded and tossed her the bag which she caught in midair. She sent him another questioning look, and he just smiled in response. _

_"Taste the rainbow," he replied happily. "I know you can't wait for the sun to come out, but for now, you'll settle for this, won't you?" The look on his face made her heart melt, and she could only smile in response to his gesture._

_The sweetness of the candy was nothing in comparison to his.  
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: :

"The sun is coming out," she says softly but confidently. There are holes in the clouds now, sunlight streaming out of them. It's almost time, and yet she's scared now. She looks towards him, but he only shakes his head at her. She's shaking, and even the hand on hers isn't enough to keep her from sobbing her heart out.

: :

_"__It's a sunny day," she mused. He nodded in response, looking at her to see if she had more to say. But she didn't, and they sat there on the grass for some time before he finally spoke._

_"We should do something," he said. Her eyes asked what, and he replied, "Anything, so long as we're together." _

_And so they did. Even though visiting the zoo was the last thing she wanted, it didn't seem as bad with him by her side._

: :

"I miss you." Her voice is stronger now, and she looks up towards the blinding lights to where he is. A smile adorns her lips as she notices, not too far from where she is standing, is a rainbow stretched out across the town. "Goodbye, my rainbow. Goodbye... Dan." And with that, she turns around, and walks towards the opposite way, back towards home.

: :

_"If one day, I woke up and found out this was all a dream, it'd be the best dream," she said on a sunny afternoon, the sun feeling great on her skin after such a long season of wind and rain. She felt his arm snake around her waist and his lips kiss her on the cheek._

_"It's not a dream," he told her, smiling. "But like a dream, I'll always be there, in your heart." She smiled. It sounded like a promise.  
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* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Pretty much showing a girl and her deceased lover and her attempt (not really an attempt) to forget him. OC/Dan. The stuff in the italics were in the past, and it all happened in a random order - this was not narrated in chronological order for the italicized stuff, but it was for the regular, present stuff. (Hope that's not confusing...)

I'm sorry, Cecily, since you asked for this to be about the Starlings. :( But I really liked where I went with this, and I hope you do, too! Your prompt was very fun to write for, and I'm glad you asked me to do this. [Her prompt: _"Rainstorms bring rainbows - everybody knows it's true, but there aren't any rainbows around here, and Heaven knows how many storms I've had."_] I did fix the punctuation, though, to fit how I write, though.

You know, I don't know how my mind comes up with this stuff. I think mine's broken. It doesn't want to be happy - it wants to make people sad and depressed, while simultaneously tricking them with fluff. Ugh. And it also distracts me from my work. Seriously, someone just _take _my brain. It's too rebellious for me anymore.

(OH MY GOSH, I NOTICED THIS COULD GO ALONG WITH "A LOVING LIE"! So yeah, let's pretend that my main purpose of this story was to provide a back story to "A Loving Lie", even though that really wasn't my intention at first.)

Anyway, I finished this up in like an hour, and I have to go, so if you see any mistakes, throw them my way and I'll try to catch up on them later. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!


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